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Lowell Council presses Lynch on ambulance pact

By Ed Hannan, Sun Correspondent

Updated:
02/25/2014 11:35:42 PM EST

LOWELL-- City councilors voiced their displeasure with City Manager Bernie Lynch's handling of the city's ambulance contract Tuesday night while also approving a $2 million transfer into the School Department budget to address the shortfall in meeting the city's net-school-spending requirement.

Councilors voted unanimously to request that Lynch explain why his administration and the Health Department chose not to undertake a request-for-proposals for the ambulance contract.

The Board of Health is set to vote tonight on a three-year contract with its current provider, Trinity EMS, that includes an option for two more years.

The Lowell-based Trinity has held the contract since 1992, but councilors wanted to know why Lynch was rushing to award a new contract since its current pact expires June 30. If approved, Lynch would be asked to sign off on the deal just before his March 10 departure.

"The current provider has an excellent track record by all accounts and has served the city well. To my knowledge, they are the only one with experience doing 911 calls in the city of Lowell," Lynch said.

He also cited the town of Chelmsford awarding its ambulance contract to Trinity on Monday night.

"The timing of this, when you tout yourself as an open and transparent city manager, doesn't seem logical," Daly said.

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Daly began his remarks by saying, "This should not be about the current provider, it should be about the process that led to the contract," citing a letter from Fire Chief Edward Pitta to Lynch that listed a series of concerns with Trinity's level of service, including response times. "If there's any department in the city that knows more about the current EMS provider, it's the Fire Department."

Trinity owner and operator John Chemaly of Chelmsford could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

Lynch said the Board of Health is empowered via city ordinance to handle the ambulance contract as of 1988.

"They are doing the work on this. The only feedback I gave them is when they asked if it should be a five-year contract, I said, 'no, it should be a three-year contract.' "

Ed Kennedy said Lynch owes the council an explanation of his handling of the process.

"I'm not saying there should be an RFP. I'm saying there should be a public explanation of why we're not doing one."

Corey Belanger said Lynch handled it properly.

"You're within your authority to award this contract. It's my belief the council is powerless at this point to do much of anything."

In voting on the net-school-spending issue, Lynch requested the council transfer the $2 million from the city's Chapter 17 reserve account, which means the city would have to replenish the account next fiscal year. The account, which the state mandated be set up in the 1990s, has $4.2 million in it, according to Lynch.

Lynch's transfer, with adjusted allocations to various budget items, increased pension and health-insurance costs, additional local contributions and free cash, would eradicate the shortfall at the end of fiscal 2015.

Mayor Rodney Elliott first raised the issue at the Feb. 11 meeting when he read a Jan. 31 letter from Mitchell Chester, the state commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, he had received earlier in the day. Chester's letter said the city came up $3.8 million short of meeting its net-school-spending requirement in the fiscal year that ended June 30. The shortfall falls within the 5 percent range allowed by state law.

With the previous year's shortfall carried over, the city is slated to come up $4.6 million short of its net-school-spending requirement this fiscal year, which began July 1 and ends in June. In the current year, the city must spend $172,591,738 to meet the state requirement, though the state projects it to spend $167,959,837. Chester has urged the city to supplement the current year's budget if possible.

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